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Naomi’s heart pounded its way straight into her throat.
“There are two people who are interested in buying the property. They have each made a considerable offer, and I am probably going to choose the higher of their two bids. Because my father thought so highly of you, I want to honor that and make you an offer. If you can at least match the highest bid, I will sell the building to you. The sale date is the end of this month.” He stopped speaking then, and watched Naomi, waiting to hear what she would say.
Naomi could barely breathe, let alone answer for a moment. She forced herself to breathe. Malaika saw her struggling, and jumped in to her rescue.
“I’m curious, Reggie, would you need all of the money at once, or would you be able to take any kind of payments over a period of time if Naomi was to purchase the building from you? Is there any other kind of option?” She gave him a smile, and he returned one to her, his face softening quite a bit.
He looked truly sorry as he shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, that actually wouldn’t be possible. It would need to be a complete sale for the full price at the end of the month. Fortunately, it’s the beginning of the month, so you have a full thirty days to make your decision.”
Malaika nodded at him, and he looked away from her reluctantly to return his gaze to Naomi. “What do you think you’ll want to do?” he asked.
Naomi had taken the few moments that Malaika had given her, and she gathered herself. “I would like the opportunity to buy the building, but I’ll be honest with you, Reggie, we just don’t have that kind of money, and it’s unlikely that we would have it in so short a time.”
He pressed his lips together in a tight line and nodded. “I understand. Well, that’s the best that I can offer you right now. I do hope that something turns up for you, and that if you want the building, you are somehow able to secure it. I will promise you this; I won’t make the sale final until the end of the month, so you have until then, and I will check with you first before I accept an offer from anyone else.”
She tried to give him a smile, but it wasn’t in her. She nodded in understanding, and he rose up from the sofa and offered his hand to her as she stood up beside him.
“Thank you for seeing me,” he said politely.
“Thank you for coming by and talking to us, and for holding the sale for us. We’re certainly going to do everything that we can to keep this building.” Naomi shook his hand.
He looked at Keisha. “It was nice to meet you both.” He shifted his gaze to Malaika, “I’ll be in touch very soon. What an absolute pleasure.” He reached for Malaika’s hand, and shook it, holding it a long moment as his eyes locked on hers, before letting her go.
Reggie left them, and the moment the door of the office closed, Naomi nearly collapsed on the sofa, burying her face in her hands as sobs came up in her full force. “I can’t believe this! We’ve worked so hard to get this business going and keep it busy, and we’ve been here all of this time. There’s no way that we can buy this place in a month! It’s just not possible!”
Her shoulders shook and Malaika came to her and sat beside her, wrapping her arm around Naomi’s shoulders and squeezing her gently to comfort her. “We’re going to figure it out. I don’t know how, but we will. We have a month. We have to make it work.”
Naomi stayed there on the sofa with Malaika a little while, but then she wiped her hands over her wet cheeks and dried her eyes as much as she could. “We have to get to work. We have to find a way to make that money. I’ve worked far too hard making this design firm what it is to lose it like that. I’m not moving the business, either. Ladies, we have to put our heads together and see what we can come up with.”
She stood up and walked back to her desk, determined to find a way to make it work. She sat there for two hours, going over every possibility that she could think of. Both Malaika and Keisha were working on it as well, and later that afternoon, Keisha hung up the phone on her desk and rushed over to Naomi’s desk.
“Naomi!” she gushed excitedly, her eyes brighter than usual. “Maybe this will help!”
“What is it?” Naomi asked, looking at the paper that Keisha thrust into her hand.
“It’s a new design job. This lady saw your work up in someone else’s house and just loved it! She wants you to go over to her home right away and talk with her about redoing her entire house and her guest house!” Keisha was bubbling with delight.
“Her house and her guest house? Wow! That’s not going to be enough to-” Naomi started, but Keisha stopped her.
“It could be! It’s in Beverly Hills! The square footage and all of the information is down on that paper. This is twice the size of Scott Thompson’s place, and that’s just the main house! The guest house is bigger than most of our usual jobs! This could do it!” Keisha grinned happily.
Naomi looked at the paper in her hand and did some quick mental math. “Oh my god…” she said quietly, “this could do it… both of these homes? That would be… that would be enough! Even if it wasn’t enough, it would certainly be nearly the full amount of the price of the building, and we could get a loan for the rest of it, if there was even anything leftover that we might owe!”
Relief and happiness washed through her like a tidal wave. It was the happiest she had been since the moment she was making love with Scott, right before her whole world had begun to crumble. “When does she want me to go talk with her?”
“She said that you could go this afternoon, if you aren’t busy.” Keisha bubbled.
“Good! Call her and tell her that I’m on my way please!” Naomi grabbed her purse and keys and headed toward the door. She stopped just
as she was about to walk out of it. “Oh! What’s her name?”
“Jen!” Keisha answered with an excited wave of her hand. Malaika smiled broadly, and they both wished Naomi good luck as she went out of the door with hope in her hands.
Chapter3
Naomi was practically giddy as she drove up the steep winding roads toward the address she had been given. The house was the biggest that she had ever done, and the knowledge that doing just that one job could save her business, was enough to bolster her low spirits and make her feel as if there was some true good in her life, coming to her in such dark times.
She stopped at the gate and a man in a guard house walked out to her and checked her name and ID, and she wondered just who the woman might be to need a guard at her gate, rather than just an electric security gate.
